Homes for Sale - Information on Buying and Selling Homes

People buy homes for many reasons, whether it's a fulfillment of a dream or a calculated investment. Whatever the motivation, buying a home is generally the largest single financial transaction most people ever conduct.

Homes for sale are available from builders, Realtors® and homeowners selling without representation (For Sale By Owner—FSBO). Houses can also be purchased through foreclosures and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). You can buy new homes, older homes, fixer-uppers and manufactured homes.

As you read and study about buying / selling real estate, you will often find the words "house" and "home" used interchangeably. There is a huge difference between a house and a home.

If you are selling a home, real estate agents will usually refer to it as a "house." If you are buying a house, agents will often refer to it as a "home."

The reason? Because when you are buying a home, it is more than just a purchase. It is where you go home after a hard day on the job. It is where you raise your kids and lovingly watch them grow. It is where you watch the Super Bowl, barbecue in the back yard or plant flowers every year to admire their blooms.

You aren't buying a space to eat and sleep. You are moving into your private "safe haven." A place you can call "home" for years.

Someday, you will sell that house, and when you do—it becomes someone else's home. If you're still thinking of it as your home, selling is more difficult.

A house is something you buy logically. A home is an emotional purchase. When buying real estate you have to balance your emotional wants and your logical needs because there will almost certainly be a time when the two conflict.

The trick in buying real estate is to view all decisions with both a logical perspective and an emotional perspective. If a situation presents itself that requires a trade-off, decide on whether there is a huge conflict or a small one. Logic should win the big conflicts, but emotion should always be a factor, even winning the small ones.

While it's easy to get overwhelmed, buying / selling a house doesn't have to be a painful ordeal. If you know all the details and understand what you're getting into, the process can be both enjoyable and educational.